AMERICAN LITERATURE

PREFACE The course American Literature is designed to represent major themeswhich run throughout American literary history and at the same time to suggest away of understanding and inter

AMERICAN LITERATURE

VĂN HỌC MỸ AMERICAN LITERATURE

Tác giả: LÊ THỊ THANH, Ph.D.

PREFACE

The course American Literature is designed to represent major themeswhich run throughout American literary history and at the same time to suggest away of understanding and interpreting that literature

The course is intended for students whose reading skills are of anintermediate or advanced level of English and mainly for those classes studyingliterature of Department of English, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Ho chi minhCity Open University It is expected that all the teachers feel free to select textsthat are suitable for their teaching situation, reject others and supplement whennecessary

This course begins by providing the students with a general knowledgeabout basic techniques for literary comprehension and interpretation A briefintroduction of American literature from its beginning to the modern period is thenincluded by a survey of American literary history and introduction about literaryfriends It continues with a range of literary texts in roughly chronological study ofAmerican writers to help the student to develop a genuine sense of growth andcontinuity in the American mind from 1607 to the present time

Each unit contains a text with biographical information, some questions forcomprehension and interpretation The information accompanying the text aims

to help the students to understand the text and can be used in a variety ofcircumstances such as individual preparation, group presentation or classdiscussion

Lê Thị Thanh, Ph.D

INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE INTERPRETATION

Literature needs creative readers with effective strategies for reading andinterpretation Students of literature are expected to express their comprehensionthrough literary analysis and interpretation, not by providing the facts orsummarizing the text

To develop your understanding a text, you need to adopt differentstrategies for 2 stages of reading: Understanding and Responding

Stage 1, Reading and Understanding, focuses on your initial reactions towhat you read Through a variety of activities you will be encouraged to exploreyour possible understanding to a given text

Stage 2, Analyzing and Interpreting, helps you understand the story’smeanings or significance of the text through various elements such as plot,setting, character, and point of view From learning how a story is composedthrough scenes and characters you can develop a deeper understanding of howlanguage can be used both to create and to comprehend a story

Some texts in this course may be easy to read; others may be hard Somewill immediately provoke a reaction; others will take more thought anddiscussion The following strategies are designed to help you develop effectiveapproaches to reading even the most difficult ones

DEVELOPING READING AND UNDERSTANDING

Before Reading

You may be able to understand what you read better if you have somebackground knowledge before you begin reading The following suggestions may

be helpful

1 Read the title of the text It may give you a clue to the text’s focus.

2 Read the biographical information (“About the Author”) that precedes thestory By reading some background on the author’s life and literary history, youmay gain some insight into the author’s approach Knowing the date, originallanguage, and country of origin of a work of fiction can help you understand itbetter

3 Read any background information (“The Context of the Story”) because

it may help you become aware of an unfamiliar concept that is crucial to anunderstanding of the text

4 Look at the length of the story Knowledge of how long a text is can helpyou plan your reading time

First Reading

This is the time you enter the world of the text and you do not need tounderstand every word or detail Try to feel what the author feels and to knowwhat the characters experience

Guidelines for First Reading

1 Preview the text by reading the title, the biographical information aboutthe author, and the discussion of the context of the text

2 Read the text through once to grasp what is happening, without using adictionary

Subsequent Readings

Because you are reading the short stories, poems, essays, extracts fromnovels to fulfill the demand of an academic course, American Literature, the wayyou ultimately read in this course will be different from the way you read purelyfor pleasure For example, in a second reading, you may read not from beginning

to end but rather forwards and backwards, as you predict and remember what

you have read before The details that you had not noticed in the first time maysuddenly appear important The ideas that seemed to confirm your own beliefs orexpectations may now seem to contradict them, and vice versa Although thisreading process can be unsettling, it is a natural process that even the mostadvanced readers of literature experience.

Establishing a Goal for Reading

To understand a text, you need to read it more than once and when youreread, you should try to establish a goal The following guidelines can give you

an idea of ways to read for different purposes

(1) If you are rereading in preparation for a class discussion of the readingyou may want to underline or copy passages that you particularly like or that youfind confusing so that you can bring them to the attention of the class

(2) If you are rereading for the purpose of answering a question theinstructor has posed about the text, you will want to reread the story in anattempt to find an answer

(3) If you are rereading in preparation for writing an essay about the text,you will want to look for specific details that will help you develop the ideas

Defining Unfamiliar Vocabulary Words

Even at this stage, you do not need to know the meaning of every word in

a text As you reread, underline or in some other way make note of only words orexpressions that seem to hold a key to comprehension: words you need to know

to achieve a general understanding of die passages in which they occur

Although a dictionary can be helpful in learning vocabulary, it cannot defineall expressions, and the definitions you find may not apply to the readingpassage Another way to approach unfamiliar vocabulary is to guess at thegeneral meanings of words, using contextual clues Contexts will not always give

you precise meanings, but they will often give you enough clues about themeaning to understand a passage.

Use a dictionary, or the Glossary, primarily in two circumstances: (1) whenyou are not satisfied with the meaning you have guessed from the context evenafter subsequent readings, or (2) when you are assigned to summarize or toanalyze part or all of the text

Guessing Meaning from Context

Working in pairs or a small group, identify two or three words orexpressions that you find challenging Following the guidelines for usingcontextual clues to guess at meaning, discuss those words to infer their meaning

in the passages in which they occur Consult a dictionary or the Glossary tocompare the meanings you have decided upon with the dictionary definitions

Guidelines for Using Contextual Clues to Guess at Meaning

1 Look at what precedes and follows the word or expression (for example,grammatical forms within the same sentence, other key words or expressions,important ideas, significant scenes, and so on)

2 Try to determine whether the word has a positive or negativeconnotation

3 Consider how the word fits into the whole text

Annotating

A second or third reading can only consist simply of reading the text again.But you can achieve a closer reading by making brief notes as you read Makingthese notes, either in the margins of the text, within the text itself, or on aseparate sheet of paper is known as annotating

Annotating is a way to record your reactions to a text This process notonly helps you focus on the reading task but also clarify the actions and

meanings of the text Annotating can be practiced in many ways Each readerhas an individual way of making notes You might write notes about eachparagraph or about larger chunks You might write a brief word or wholesentences You might underline, highlight, circle, and /or write comments in anotebook.-

Guidelines for Annotating

1 Express any emotions you feel in response to what you have just read,for example, pleasure, surprise, anger, confusion

2 Recall personal associations with what is described in the text

The literary journal will prepare you to write more formal essays becausewriting journal entries will give you regular practice in interpretation Furthermore,the entries will serve as a source of valid and appropriate approaches to literaryworks

Participating in and Taking Notes on Class Discussions

Although the guidelines are designed to focus on understanding throughreading and writing, many have involved you in another productive readingstrategies: talking This course aims to provide also opportunities for you tospeak about what you have read By speaking and by listening to others, you cancome to a deeper understanding of a story Like the processes of reading andwriting, the act of conversation itself can generate ideas

There are numerous opportunities that will enable you to participate indiscussions ^ with your classmates and sharing what you have written about thetext in your reading log can be a way to introduce your ideas into the classdiscussions By sharing ideas, you can become actively engaged in the process

of understanding literature To remember the significant ideas that emerge fromclass discussions is a good way to improve your comprehension

Suggestions for Reading and Understanding

1 Preview the text by reading the title, the biographical information, andthe discussion of the context of the text.

2 Read the text through once to grasp what is happening, without using adictionary of the Glossary

3 Reread and annotate the text

- Identify any unfamiliar vocabulary words; try to guess the meaning fromthe context

_ Write brief clarifying notes

4 Write in your reading log to explore your initial reactions to the text

5 Discuss your responses with classmate

DEVELOPING ANALYZING AND INTERPRETING

In this stage, the focus is on analysis and interpretation Analysis is theprocess of breaking down something into its parts to examine the parts closely.Interpretation is the process of piecing the parts together to discover a patternthat reveals the text’s meanings or significance

Examining Elements Within a Story

The parts of a story that you can examine are elements that exist withinthe story: plot, setting, character, point of view, imagery, symbolism, tone, irony,speech, structure, and foreshadowing Each element provides clues to meaningand can help you interpret a story

Plot

Plot is a series of events and thoughts arranged to reveal their dramaticand emotional significance Plot is not just a sequence of chronological events.Rather, plot implies that there is a meaningful relationship among the events

Conflict

Plot is characterized by a conflict: a struggle between two or moreopposing forces The conflict may be internal (person vs self) or external (person

vs person; person vs nature; person vs society; or person vs fate) A story mayhave more than one conflict

Plot Summary

To summarize a plot, you need to determine what you believe are the keyevents or happenings in the story and to identify the conflict(s) Ask questionssuch as these: What is happening? What is the main conflict? Is the conflictresolved (brought to a conclusion)?

In a plot summary, there are primarily four important features:

1 It should be brief Try to summarize the plot in a few sentences, or inonly one or two sentences

2 It should be accurate Use the facts as they are presented in the story

3 It should contain the most important details Your goal is to tell what ishappening in the story, to identify what you perceive to be the main conflict

a Select what you think are the most significant details

b Decide what you are going to include in your summary and what you aregoing to leave out

c Present the details in the order in which they occur in the story or inanother logical order

d Focus on the facts and do as little interpretation as possible

4 It should be primarily in your own words Retell the story using your ownwords Of course, some of the original words of the story must remain, such asthe names of people and places But you can replace many of the words from theoriginal text Use one of these strategies, or another strategy that you findproductive, to find your own words:

a After reading the story, put it aside and retell the story from the memory.

b After reading, take notes on the story Then put the story aside and retellthe story from the notes

Time

The length of time during which the action occurs is a feature of thesetting, this X may span several years or months or only an hour Details of thesetting may reveal the time of day, not only through actual clock time but alsothrough descriptions of light, darkness, and shadows Details of the setting mayreveal time of year, through references to the seasons The period of history, inwhich the action occurs, may also be revealed

Social Environment

Not all stories include references to social environment, but when they do,such references may include details about the manners, customs, rules andmoral codes of a society Details may also reveal socioeconomic status or classlevel

Physical Environment

Details of the setting reveal the physical environment in which the storytakes place Such concrete details may include references to or descriptions of

objects, clothing, nature, buildings, rooms, weather, sounds, smells, and so on.These physical details often indicate the emotional state of the characters or therelationship between characters.

Examining the setting of a story

Working in a small group or with the whole class, discuss answers to thequestions: Where does the story take place? When? How long does it take forthe action to occur? Which details reveal the society’s manners, customs, rules,moral codes, and/or the socioeconomic level of the characters? Which concretedetails reveal a character’s emotional state and/or the relationship between thecharacters?

Characters

Characters are the people in stories, or animals or objects that havehuman traits in stories The term character refers to people’s outwardappearance and behavior and also to their inner emotional, intellectual and moralqualities

Writers of fiction rarely, if ever, directly tell readers what a character is like.Instead, writers suggest what a character is like, relying on indirect methods ofcharacterization These indirect methods, summarized below, require readers tointerpret clues to identify character traits and thus understand motivation for orcauses of behavior By piecing together these clues, readers can form a picture

of the whole character

Outer and Inner Characters

Character is revealed in a story by how a person is described; by what aperson does, says, and thinks; by what others in the story say and think aboutthe person; and by how others in the story react to the person Character is alsorevealed by the choices the person makes and the changes the personundergoes

Central and Minor Characters

Most stories have at least one central character (also called main or majorcharacter, hero/heroine, or protagonist), the person around whom the storyresolves Many stories also have at least one minor character, who is not thefocus of the story but who still plays an important role Sometimes charactersprovide contrasts with one another

Analyzing Characters

Working in a small group or with the whole class, discuss answers to thequestions: Who is the central character? What is significant about how thecentral character is described? Who are the minor characters? What is significantabout how they react to the central characters? What are the central character’ssignificant actions? What are the central character’s inner thoughts and feelings?What choices does the central character have? What changes does the centralcharacter undergo? How do those choices and changes help you understand thestory?

Point of View

Point of view is a literary term that refers to the perspective from which astory is told The author creates a narrator to tell the story It is through thenarrator’s perspective (through the narrator’s eyes and mind) that readers learnwhat is happening in a story

The Narrator who is a Character in the Story

The narrator may be one of the characters in the story If so, the story istold from a first-person perspective, and the character-narrator may use thepronoun “I.” If the story looks back on the narrator’s own childhood, there may be

a double (or dual) point of view: the perspective of the child and the perspective

of the adult narrator

The Narrator who is not a Character in the Story

The narrator may not be one of the characters in the story or may notparticipate in the events of the story If so, the story is told primarily from a third-person perspective.

Such a narrator may know almost everything about one character or everycharacter, including inner thoughts Or the narrator may know everything aboutone or more of the character(s) except inner thoughts The narrator maycomment on the actions and thoughts, or the narrator may just describe themobjectively

The Narrator who is Unreliable

It is easy to be fooled into thinking that the narrator is the author But it isimportant to remember that the narrator is a device and point of view is atechnique that an author uses to influence the way a reader perceives what ishappening in the story An easy way to remember that the narrator is not theauthor is to think of a story in which the narrator and author are of oppositegender

Furthermore, the narrator does not necessarily hold or reflect the author’sview What the narrator says may reveal what is true, but the narrator may not bereliable Even if the narrator knows almost everything about every character, thenarrator is still limited in some way (since all human beings are limited in someway) It is only by piecing together several or all of the elements of fiction that youcan move toward an understanding of the author’s view

Imagery

Imagery refers to the collection of images in a work of fiction: the men’spictures created by the author’s words These words often carry suggestedmeaning in addition to their literal (primary, factual) meaning; writers use concreteimages to go beyond physical description in order to express feelings and states

of mind Most images are created through words that appeal to readers’ sense of

sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch For example, a pink flower may appeal toreaders’ sense of sight or smell and bring forth pleasant associations withspringtime or a holiday memory.

Symbolism

A symbol is something that represents something else Often in a literarywork, a symbol is an image of an event or a physical object (a thing, person, orplace) that is used to represent something invisible or abstract such as an idea, avalue, or an emotion Authors use symbols to suggest meaning One symbol maysuggest more than one meaning

The setting can be a major source of symbols Trees and grain growingnear a river, for example, may suggest life or fertility Areas without any growthmay suggest decay or death A fancy house may suggest wealth; tiny village maysuggest poverty The sound of dance music may suggest joy; the sound ofbeating drums may signal fear Light may suggest knowledge; darkness maysuggest ignorance The possibility is numerous

Although there are numerous possibilities, not all objects or events ofstories are symbols Some objects or events are just what they are described ordefined to be and have no second or third meaning

Literal meaning: To determine whether an object is a symbol of somethingelse, begin with the literal (factual, dictionary) meaning of the object

Universal meaning: After you have determined the literal meaning, ask ifthe object has some universal symbolism For example, ram after a long period

of drought can symbolize rebirth or renewal or regeneration in many parts of thework

Cultural meaning: If you do not recognize universal symbolism, ask if theobject has some cultural symbolism For example, a certain style of dress mayrepresent a particular social class in a particular culture

Contextual meaning: If you do not discover culture symbolism, ask yourself

if the object has some unique meaning within a context of the story itself Forexample, flashing light may represent a character’s sudden understanding ofsomething

If you do not discover any second meaning, you may assume that theobject is not necessary a symbol of anything

Tone

Tone is a literary term that refers to the author’s attitude or stance towardthe action, characters, narrator, subject, and even readers of the story Tone isconveyed through the language the author uses Writers of fiction choose everyword carefully to create effect or to convey meaning

Attitude toward actions or events

To understand tone is to understand the author’s attitude toward the action

or events: whether a story is humorous or tragic or frightening The author maywant you to laugh or cry, to feel happy or sad, to experience anger or fear

Attitude toward characters or narrator

To understand tone is to understand the author’s attitude toward thecharacters or the narrator; the author may or may not like or trust them Forexample, the author may be sympathetic toward, admiring of, hostile toward,critical of, or sentimental about or more of the characters of die narrator

Attitude toward subject matter

To understand tone is to understand the author’s attitude toward thesubject matter of the story: how an author feels about an idea or concept Forexample, the author may be sarcastic about, indifferent to, bitter about, curiousabout, thrilled by, critical of, outraged about, shocked by, frightened about,

scornful of, sentimental about, or sad about a subject such as love, death,marriage, family, government, social class, money, religion, or war.

Irony

Irony refers to the unexpected incongruity between appearance and truth

or between expectation and reality Irony is apparent when an author useslanguage to create

a deliberate contrast between appearance (what seems to be true) andtruth (what is true), or between expectation (what was expected or hoped for)and reality (what actually happens) Often readers know or understandsomething that a character does not

Ironic situations Irony emerges from situations, for example when whathappens different from what the characters or readers hope for or expect (forexample when a character expects that a certain action will result in victory when

in fact that action results in defeat)

Ironic thoughts Irony emerges from thoughts, for example, when acharacter thinks or believes something that is actually different from the truth (forexample, when A believes that B is a good person, but the truth is that B is evil;

so that A’s trust in B results in disaster)

Ironic Speech Irony emerges from spoken words, for example when acharacter says something that, either intentionally or unintentionally, means theopposite of what it seems to say (for example, when A says to B, “I understandyou now” and B interprets that to mean, “I believe you, I trust you” and actsaccordingly; but A really means, “I understand now that you are deceitful personand I don’t trust you anymore”)

Speech

Character’s speech can indicate the intellectual ability, clarity of thought,educational level, social class, national origin, personality, and/or emotional state

of the speaker Therefore, an author may put sophisticated words ornongrammatical expressions or slang in a character’s speech to revealsomething about the character’s background.

There are a number of ways in which authors use character’s speech tocommunicate meaning

Dialogue

Dialogue refers to the conversation between or among characters.Dialogue can indicate the relationship between characters, revealing whetherthey are in conflict or in agreement Thus, a character’s words can convey ideas

or information important to the story’s plot, character’s development, or tone.However, what characters say is not necessarily true Sometimes characters cansay things that they don’t mean For example, they may want to conceal the truth

or mislead someone

Monologue

Monologue is a speech by one character This brief or extended speechcan reveal the character’s feelings, often previously hidden from the othercharacters, and communicate information to other characters and/or to thereaders

Dialect

Dialect shows the region from which the speaker comes The dialect maydiffer from standard literary English in its pronunciation, grammar, andvocabulary

Indirect Speech

Sometimes authors do not present conversation directly but rather throughindirect speech That is, the conversation is not presented within quotation marksbut is revealed through narration or through a character’s thoughts

A traditional story has a predictable structure-, a plot moves in a direct linefrom start to finish, from the beginning through the middle to the end In thebeginning of such a story, the author introduces the setting, the characters, andthe conflict In the middle, the conflict intensifies to a crisis In the end, the conflict

is resolved (one of the forces wins out)

In many stories, however, the structure is not predictable For example, theauthor may use the technique of flashback: switching in time by going back to thepast to provide background to characters or events The author may move backand forth between past and present or project into the future The author maystart at the end rather than at the beginning The story may not even have anidentifiable beginning, middle, and end The conflict may not be resolved

The structure, whether predictable or unpredictable, may be designed toproduce a specific reaction in a reader For example, if the structure ispredictable (with everything in order), the reader may feel a sense of security; ifunpredictable (with things in unexpected places), the reader may feel a sense ofsuspense The structure may also reflect what the characters are feeling Forexample, a predictable structure (with everything in the way it should be) couldreflect a character’s sense of peace; an unpredictable structure (with things out

of place) could reflect a character’s confusion or anger or lack of control

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a technique used by authors to hint at or suggest what isgoing to happen For example, authors may hint at the beginning of the storywhat will happen in the middle Or they may hint in the middle what will happen inthe end The hints may lie in descriptions of the events, the setting, or thecharacters; or they may lie on thoughts, dreams, conversations, and so on

Foreshadowing often adds suspense to a story, creating in readers thefeeling of fear or excitement You may not recognize foreshadowing until youfinish a story and then read it again.

Researching Elements Outside a Story

Sometimes information about history, literature, and biography, whichexists outside the story, can aid in an analysis of a story You may learn thisinformation from class discussion or lectures, from library research or otheroutside reading, or from biographical and background material included in thistextbook

Theme versus Subject

A theme is not a subject A subject is what the story is about A themereveals what the story says about the subject

Theme versus Topic

A theme is not a topic A topic is what an essay is about A theme reveals atruth about the topic

Theme versus Moral

A theme is not a moral A moral is a statement or lesson that teaches rightand wrong behavior A theme reveals how people behave (without telling peoplehow to behave) For example, a story with a moral might teach a lesson such as

“Don’t do anything immoral,” “Never tell a lie,” or “Practice what you preach” Astory with a theme would not so directly preach a lesson but would instead createcharacters to examine their behavior and motivation, to try to understand whyhuman beings are the way they are

Guidelines for Analysis and Interpretation

Go through the list of elements of fiction below and apply the questions tothe story

While or after you go through the applicable categories, discuss the story

as a whole to discover a theme or several themes Allow for differentinterpretations

- Plot: What is happening? What is the main conflict?

- Setting: Where does the story take place? Over what period of time?What do the physical details reveal about the society or the characters?

- Characters: Who is the story about? Does the central character havechoices or undergo changes? How do the choices or changes (or lack of choice

or change) contribute to your understanding of the story?

- Point of view: Who is narrating the story? How would the story bedifferent if the narrator were different?

- Imagery: What are the dominant images? Are they connected to anyfeelings or states of mind?

- Symbolism: Might any events or objects represent abstract ideas?

- Tone: What is the author's attitude toward character, event, or subjectmatter?

- Irony: Is there incongruity between what the characters think is true andwhat is actually true? If so, how does irony contribute to your understanding ofthe story?

- Speech: What does the dialogue, monologue, or indirect speech revealabout plot or character?

- Structure: What might the story’s structure reveal about the plot orcharacter development?

- Foreshadowing: Are there hints in the beginning or the middle as to whatwill happen at the end?

HISTORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE

It took Americans many years to develop a national literature The settlerswho arrived in the 1600’s had little time to write books They were too busyclearing the wilderness and conquering the land Gradually, as the nation grew, arich and imaginative literature began to appear By the mid-1800’s, Americansbegan to point with pride to their literary achievements Such authors as RalphWaldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville had producedmasterpieces that ranked with the great works of literature throughout the world

Since the 1800’s, American authors have made important contributions toall forms of literature Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe helped make the

short story a major literary form The free verse of Walt Whitman and literarytheories of Henry James created new paths in poetry and fiction In drama,Eugene O’Neil influenced playwrights everywhere with his bold techniques anddaring new themes.

Characteristics of American Literature

The United States has such a large and varied literature that we can make

no true generalizations about it But three characteristics seem to stand out andgive it a flavor all its own

First, American literature reflects beliefs and traditions that come from thenation’s frontier days The pioneer ideals of self-reliance and independenceappear again and again in American writings American authors have greatrespect for the value and importance of the individual They tend to rejectauthority and to emphasize democracy and the equality of men

Second, American writers have always had a strong tendency to breakwith literary tradition and to strike out in their own directions Many authors haverejected the old in order to create something new

Third, a lively streak of humor runs through American literature fromearliest times to the present In many cases, a dash of salty humor saves aserious theme from becoming too sentimental American humor tends to beexaggerated rather than subtle It reflects the people’s ability to laugh atthemselves even during the most difficult times

Colonial Writing (1608-1765)

The American colonists wrote histories to record their activities, sermons toteach moral lessons, and pamphlets to argue political points Even their poemsdiscussed religious and moral subjects In all their writings the colonists imitatedpopular European styles

Few colonial writings of the 1600’s and early 1700’s can be consideredoutstanding But these works give an insight into the ideas and events of thisperiod in early American history.

Histories The adventurer John Smith (1580-1631) probably wrote the first

personal account of colonial life in America Smith called his book A True Relation

of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Happended in Virginia It waspublished in England in 1608 to attract European settlers to America

Other early works also attempted to “advertise the new land.” JohnWinthrop (1588-1649), in his Journal, described life in the Massachusetts BavColony from 1630 to 1649 Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford (1590-1657) tells about the Pilgrims who settled the Plymouth Colony

Most colonial histories seem dull today But a few of them sparkle with witand humor Sarah Kemble Knight (1666-1727), a Boston schoolteacher, keptdelightful Journal of her trip from Boston to New York City in 1704 William Byrd II(1674-1744), a Virginia planter, wrote “The History of the Dividing Line.” Thispamphlet tells about surveying trip Byrd took in 1728 It offers glimpsers into therelaxed, fun-loving life of Southern aristocrats

In 1782, St John de Crevecoeur (1735-1813) published his lively Lettersfrom an American Farmer The book takes the form of 12 letters written by anAmerican farmer to an imaginary friend in England

Religious Writings, such as sermons and religious pamphlets, made up

the bulk of colonial literature Many settlers had come to America because theydisagreed with the teachings of the Church of England Vigorous and sometimesbitter debates took place Some religious leaders, among them Nathaniel Ward(1578? - 1652), called for intolerance toward the new sects Ward’s best-knownwork is The Simple Cobbler of Aggawam in America

Other clergymen pleaded for religious freedom Roger Williams (1603? 1683) argued for separation of church and state in The Bloudy Tenent ofPersecution and other pamphlets.

-Three religious leaders wrote particularly important works They were (1)Cotton Mather (1663 - 1728), a gloomy Puritan; (2) Janathan Edwards (1703 -1758), a reasoning Calvinist; and (3) John Woolman (1720 - 1772), a gentleQuaker

Mather wrote more than 450 works on a variety of subjects In some, hedefended the witchcraft trials of Salem, Massachusetts He used quotations fromthe Bible to “prove” that witches existed Mather’s masterpiece is his two-volumeMagnalia Christ i Americana (Ecclesiastical History of New England)

Edwards was the leader in New England of the religious revival momentknown as the Great Awakening It swept the colonies between 1725 and 1775.Edwards stirred people with such frightening sermons as “Sinners in the Hands

of an Angry God.” His best-known book, Freedom of the Will, defends thedoctrines of Calvinism

Woolman left a record of his innermost thoughts in his Journal The workreflects his deep faith in the “Inner Light.” This is a Quaker belief that God’s spiritexists in every human being

Colonial Poetry also dealt mostly with religious subjects Many colonists

wrote pious verses and jingles for friends and relatives The first book printed inthe colonies was a collection of psalms in verse form It became known as TheBay Psalm Book Several New England ministers prepared the book StephenDaye (15947-1668) printed it in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1640

Three New England poets earned fame: (1) Michael Wigglesworth 1705), (2) Anne Dudley Bradstreet (16127-1672), and (3) Edwards Taylor (16447-1729)

(1631-Wigglesworth wrote Day of Doom, the most popular literary work ofcolonial times A copy of this long poem stood on almost all Puritan bookshelvesalong with the Bible and Pilgrim’s Progress by the British author John Bunyan.The poem describes Calvinist beliefs about sin and salvation.

Mrs Bradstreet was America’s first woman poet She became known forher collected poems, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung up in America This bookincludes religious poetry as well as simple lyrics on nature and home life

Taylor stands out as the best colonial poet His works lay unknown until

1937, when a manuscript of his poems was discovered and published Taylor, astem Calvinist, had a brilliant style that saved his poems from becoming dullstatements of religious doctrines His works show the influence of John Donneand other British poets of the early 1600’s

The First Flowering (1765-1850)

During the 1700’s, religious interests gradually gave way to politicalconcerns After Great Britain passed the Stamp Act of 1765, protests arose fromall parts of the colonies Dozens of revolutionary pamphlets and poems werewritten and circulated Some rank as important works of literature

New literary forms appeared after the Revolutionary War Politicalindependence brought a strong desire for literary independence For the firsttime, American writers broke with their European past

Politics and Pamphlets Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) became a

spokesman for American interests of the 1700’s He criticized British policies in apamphlet called “Rules for Reducing a Great Empire to a Small One.” Franklinalso wrote other political satires, but he did not limit himself to politics Heproduces influential literature in his roles as a prosperous publisher, a curiousscientist, and a reasoning philosopher Franklin’s witty proverbs made PoorRichard’s Almanac one of his most popular publications His major literary work

was his Autobiography It became a model for many later stories of a rise “fromrags to riches.”

Other writers published works that were more violently revolutionary thanFranklin’s political writings Thomas Paine (1737-1809), in his pamphlet CommonSense, demanded complete independence from Britain, Paine’s series ofpamphlets called The Crisis encouraged the colonists during the darkest days ofthe American revolution

After the Revolutionary War, the United States Constitution stirred up sharpdebate throughout the nation Alexandre Hamilton (17557-1804), James Madison(1751-1836), and John Jay (1745-1829) defended the Constitution in a series ofbrilliant letters called The Federalist

Patriotism and Wit Patriotism inspired a number of poets during the

Revolutionary period Philip Freneau (1752-1832) was the most talented poet ofthe time But he spent most of his energy on patriotic poems that have littleliterary value Freneau’s best works included simple nature lyrics such as “TheWild Honey Suckle.”

A group of young poets at Yale University became particularly popular.They were known as the “Wicked Wits,” the “Hartford Wits,” or the “ConnecticutWits.” In most of their poems, such “wits” as Timothy Dwight (1752-1817) andJohn Trumbull (1750-1831) imitated the humor of Alexander Pope and otherBritish satirists Joel Barlow (1754-1812) was a leading member of the group Heimpressed readers with his long patriotic poem The Vision of Columbus

New York and the Knickerbockers During the late 1700’s and early 1800’s,New York City became a busy literary center Writers who lived in and near thecity took the first steps toward creating a national literature

America’s first important novelist, Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810),moved to New York City from Philadelphia He was the first American to make

literature his major profession Brown modeled his works on the English GothicNovel (a hair-raising tale of horror) He established his reputation with Wielandand Edgar Huntly.

Three other writers connected with the city and state of New York madetruly great contributions to the development of American literature They were (1)Washington Irving (1783-1859), (2) James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), and(3) William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) The works of these men won the firstliterary recognition in Europe of American literature

Irving delighted readers with his Knickerbocker’s History of New York Thissatire was so popular that the term Father Knickerbocker became a humorousnickname for New York City A number of writers who gathered around Irvingbecame known as the Knickerbocker Group Irving retold old European folkstories in his best-loved works, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of SleepyHollow.” He combined the styles of the essay and the sketch to create a newliterary form, the short story

Cooper wrote exciting adventure stories about the New York frontier of hisday His most popular work was The Leather-Stocking Tales, a series of fivenovels Cooper’s characters sometimes seem unreal, and his style is often tooflowery But such novels as The Last of the Mohicans and The Prairie present anunforgettable picture of young America conquering a wilderness

Bryant served as the editor and the chief owner of the New York EveningPost for about 50 years While still a youth, he wrote “Thanatopsis,” his famouspoem about death Bryant became known as the “American Wordsworth”because he wrote nature poems similar to those of the English master Hedescribed American scenery in such moving poems as “To a Waterfowl” and “Tothe Fringed Gentian.”

Abolition and Uncle Torn During the 1830’s, slavery became a burning

issue in the United States Abolitionists, who wanted to end slavery, publishedstirring essays, novels, pamphlets, and poems William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879), a Boston journalist, led the antislavery crusade in his newspaper TheLiberator

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) gained fame as the most influentialabolitionist writer Her sensational novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold millions ofcopies and is still widely read It was made into the most successful stage play ofthe 1800’s President Abraham Lincoln believed that Uncle Tom’s Cabin helpedcause the Civil War, which started in 1861

American Literature Comes of Age (1850-1900)

Toward the mid-1800’s, a new generation of American writers appeared.These men did not turn to England for inspiration They wrote about their owncountry and its people They experimented with literary forms, and introducednew themes and ideas They created a national literature that won admirationand respect throughout the world

The Transcendentalists were a group of New England writers whoemphasized intuition more than reason and experience They believed that theknowledge people get from their own instincts transcends knowledge that resultsfrom reason and logic

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) became the spokesman of thetranscendentalists He presented their theories in such a brilliant essays as “Self-Reliance and “The Over-Soul.” He also wrote a number of philosophic poems.Emerson’s friend Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) put the transcendentalisttheories to practice For two years, he isolated himself from society and lived asimple life at Walden Pond, Massachusetts He recorded his experiences in his

masterpiece Walden This book of essays probes deeply into nature, the humanspirit, and the meaning of life.

During the 1840’s, the transcendentalists published a journal called TheDial Members of the group who contributed to it included George Ripley (1802-1881) Margaret Fuller (1810-1850), and Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888) Alcott

is remembered chiefly because of his famous daughter Louisia May Alcott 1888) She based her beloved novel Little Women on her own family life

(1832-The Boston Brahmins Some of the most popular authors of the 1800’sbelonged to upper-class New England society They became known as BostonBrahmins The name came from the Brahmans or Brahmins, highest castle of theHindu religion Leading Brahmins authors included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1807-1882), James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), and Oliver Wendell Holmes(1809-1894)

Longfellow was one of the most influential poets at his day People still lovehis ballads and such poems Evangeline, The Courtship of Miles Standish, andThe Song of Hiawatha Many critics regard his “Divina Commodia” (“DivineComedy”) and other sonnets as his best works

Lowell became known for his political satires in The Biglow Papers and forhis long poem The Vision of Launfal He published a number of antislaverypoems before the Civil War Later, he wrote his moving Commemoration Odehonoring the war dead Lowell showed his ability as a literary critic in A Fable forCritic, a satiric poem

Holmes, a physician, was the good-natured leader of the Brahmins Heexpressed the views of Boston’s upper class in The Autocrat of the BreakfastTable, a series of delightful essays Holmes’s poetry includes “The ChamberedNautilus” and “The Wonderful One-Hour Shay,” a humorous satire on Calvinism

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), a Quaker, was neither a Brahmin nor

a Bostonian But the Brahmin authors welcomed him because of his simple,moralistic poetry Whittier wrote many forceful antislavery poems His finestworks, such as Snow-Bound, deal with New England country life

During the 1800’s, three prominent New Englanders produced historicalworks that have literary as well as scholarly merit George Bancroft (1800-1891)contributed a monumental History of the United States John Lothrop Motley(1814-1877) wrote about The Netherlands in The Rise of the Dutch Republic andother works And Francis Parkman (1823-1893) described European struggle forpower in North America in France and England in the New World

Individualists A number of leading writers did not identify themselves with

any group or movement Their work can be understood only in terms of theirindividual genius

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) became famous as a poet, short story writer,and literary critic He wrote sad, haunting poems that show his careful attention

to meter and rhyme He based such works as “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee” onthe theory that the best subject for poetry is the death of a beautiful woman Inhis short stories, Poe concentrated on plot, and emphasized mystery andsuspense “The Purloined Letter” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” becamemodels for later mystery stories As a critic, Poe influenced writers with histheories on the short story and other literary forms

Like Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) helped develop the short storyinto major literary form Hawthorne stressed character and meaning more thanplot He explored the nature of evil in “The Minister’s Black Veil” and otherstories His masterpiece was The Scarlet Letter This novel dramatizes the tragiceffects of sin

Hawthorne’s friend, Herman Melville (1819-1891), gathered material for hisnovels during his early years at sea Melville’s first novel, Typee, made himfamous as the “man who lived among the cannibals.” His Moby-Dick achievedgreatness as an adventure tale and as a symbolic study of good and evil.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) published the first edition of his poems Leaves

of Grass in 1855 To many critics, Whitman’s flowing free verse was like a breath

of fresh air in American poetry Whitman sang the praises of America anddemocracy He glorified both physical and spiritual life in “Song of Myself’ andother poems Whitman published several editions of Leaves of Grass, each withadditional poetry The 1867 edition included a symbolic poem on Lincoln’s death,

“When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.”

Two poets wrote important lyric works in untraditional forms One of them,Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), was almost entirely unknown during her lifetime.She lived in solitude, and wrote brilliantly of love, nature, death, and eternity.Most of her poems were published after her death Their imperfect rhymes andunusual language have had an important influence on poets of the 1900’s Thesecond poet, Sidney Lainer (1842-1881), wrote more flowery verse Lainer’spoems reflect his talent for music and his love for the South In “The Symphony,”

he arranged words and rhythms to imitate the sound patterns of musicalinstruments Lainer wrote highly emotional nature poems, such as “The Marshes

of Glynn.”

Humorists and Local Colorists As the United States expanded

westward, Americans became curious about their countrymen in all parts of theland Writers satisfied this curiosity with colorful descriptions of local customs,manners, speech, and dress Some authors specialized in humorous “tall tales”about exaggerated heroes and incidents These writers became unknown asliterary comedians Other writers, called local colorists, wrote more seriousproblems, stories, and novels about various regions Their works laid the

foundations for the realistic movement that has dominated American literatureduring the 1900’s.

One of the greatest American authors was Mark Twain (1835-1910) Hecombined humor, local color, and his own genius to create some of the best-loved novels of all times Twain’s masterpieces The Adventures of Tom Sawyerand The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn both take place in the Mississippifrontier region Huckleberry Finn is the more serious of the two works It criticizesthe hypocrisy and inhumanity of what Huck calls “sivilization”

Other popular humorists of the time were Petroleum V Nasby (1833-1888)and Artemus Ward (1834-1867) Both men kept readers laughing with puns, badspelling, poor grammar, and strange dialects

Local colorists appeared in all parts of America In the West, Joaquin Miller(18397-1913) wrote ballads and poems about the Pacific frontier Bret Harte(1836-1902) published dramatic short stories about the gold-rush days inCalifornia In the South, George w Cable (1844-1925) became known for OldCreole Days, a collection of short stories about Louisiana Joel Chandler Harris(1848-1908) retold Negro legends in his famous “Uncle Remus” stories In theEast, Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) and Mary Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930)set their stories and novels against a New England background In the Midwest,Edward Eggleston (1837-1902) delighted readers with The HoosierSchoolmaster, a novel about early Indiana Indiana is also the setting for thePenrod stories of Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) and the poems of JamesWhitcomb Riley (1849-1916)

“Innocents Abroad.” Toward the end of the 1800’s, Americans seemed torediscover European culture Hundreds of American tourists flocked to Europe for

“grand tours” of the continent Mark Twain poked fun at them in The InnocentsAbroad Twain’s tourists have hilarious adventures that leave them unimpressedwith European customs and manners Other writers won fame by preparing guide

books for American “innocents” going abroad In Views Afoot, Bayard Taylor(1825-1878) described how he had toured Europe on less than $500 LafcadioHearn (1850-1904) wrote a vivid account of Japan in Glimpses of UnfamiliarJapan.

Henry James (1843-1916) developed the “international theme” in suchnovels as The American The Portrait of a Lady, and The Ambassadors Theheroes of these novels are Americans who live in Europe James examined theAmerican culture and personality by studying his characters’ reactions to theirnew surroundings James was born in the United States, but lived in Europemost of his life His theories on fictions influenced both European and Americannovelists

From 1900 to the 1940’s

Three developments influenced American literature from 1900 to 1941,when the nation entered World War II (1) The Industrial Revolution had reachedits height in the United States during the late 1800’s (see INDUSTRIALREVOLUTION) Writers of the 1900’s began to look realistically at the pressingsocial problems it brought (2) World War I and the economic depression of the1930’s caused many authors to become critical of American life (3) Thepsychoanalytic studies of Sigmund Freud in Austria pointed to new areas of thepersonality for writers to explore

Realists and Naturalists Mark Twain, Henry James, and some of the localcolorists had written realistic stories During the 1890’s, William Dean Howells(1837-1920) set forth the principles he believed should serve as guides forAmerican realists Howells defined the aims of realism as “nothing more andnothing less than the truthful treatment of material.” He called on writers todescribe the average and the ordinary in American life

Howells achieved his goals in The Rise of Silas Lapham and other novels.Many of the writers he encouraged went to far greater extremes These writersbecame known as naturalists They concentrated on crime, slum conditions, andthe lowest aspects of human society They often showed their characters asvictims of social conditions Many of their works stirred up great controversybecause of the degraded situations these works pictured and the profanity theycontained The novels of Emile Zola in France and of Thomas Hardy in Englandinfluenced the American realists and naturalists.

Stephen Crane (1871-1900), Frank Norris (1870-1902), and TheodoreDreiser (1871-1945) led the way toward powerful realistic and naturalistic writing.Crane studied the battle reactions of soldier in the Red Badge of Courage Norrisconcentrated on the struggles of California wheat ranchers in The Octopus.Dreiser shocked many readers with the frankness of Sister Carrie He based hisbest-known novel, An American Tragedy, on an actual murder case

Many other authors produced forceful, often brutal, stories and novels.Hamlin Garland (1860-1940) wrote bitterly of the hardships of Midwesternfarmers in Main Traveled Roads, a collection of short stories Brutal violencecharacterizes many of the novels of Jack London (1876-1916) Readers still thrill

to the adventures of Buck, the dog hero of London’s The Call of the Wild In theStuds Lonigan series, James T Farrell (1904-1979) drew a dark picture of life onChicago’s south side John O’Hara (1905-1970) specialized in realisticdescriptions of upper middle class life in such novels as From the Terrace andTen North Frederick Henry Miller (1891-1980) wrote his best-known novels,Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, during the 1930’s They were banned

in the United States until the 1960’s

Social Critics Some writers used realism and naturalism to expose socialevils and to achieve reforms During the first 10 years of the 1900’s, a group ofjournalists and novelists attached dishonesty in politics and business They

became known as muckrakers This group included Lincoln Steffens 1936), Ida M Tarbell (1857-1944), and Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) Sinclair’snovel The Jungle helped bring about the federal pure-food laws It describedunsanitary conditions in Chicago’s meat-packing industry.

(1866-Many aspects of American life came under literary attack after the end ofWorld War I in 1918 The critic H L Mencken (1880-1956) blasted thenarrowness of American taste and culture in a series of essays called Prejudices.Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) and Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) directed theircriticisms at small town life Each story in Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio explores adifferent personality in a small Ohio town Lewis’s Main Street satirizes thehypocrisy and dullness of the people in a Midwestern town In 1930, Lewisbecame the first American to receive a Nobel prize for literature

Social criticism grew more intense during the Great Depression of the1930’s Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938) studied American morals and values in fourhuge poetic novels Each novel, beginning with Look Homeward, Angel, is based

on Wolfe’s own life Nathanael West (19037-1940) exposed the shallowness ofAmerican society in Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust John DosPassos (1896-1970) brought social classes under critical examination in U.S.A.,

a trilogy (series of three novels) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 1968) stands out as one of the most powerful novels of social protest in Americanliterature It describes the sufferings of the “Okies” as they traveled fromOklahoma to California during the depression Steinbeck won the 1962 Nobelprize for literature

(1902-The Negro Renaissance During the 1920’s, Negro literature began to

flourish in Harlem, a district of New York City These had been notable Negrowriters earlier, particularly the poets Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) andJames Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) But Harlem in the 1920’s brought together

many Negro intellectuals and writers who began to explore American Negroculture in depth for the first time.

Several writers of special distinction emerged during the NegroRenaissance Jean Toomer (1894-1967) wrote an unusual work called Cane(1923) This book combined fiction, poetry, and poetic prose to describe Negrolife in both the North and the South Countee Cullen (1903-1946) wrote traditionalpoems on black themes Claude McKay (1890-1948) wrote Home to Harlem(1928), perhaps the first best-selling novel by a Negro Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was the best-known Harlem writer He wrote many volumes of poetry, shortstories, and humorous but shrewd sketches of Negro life

The “Lost GenerationThe writer Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) began a newliterary movement when she told Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961): “You are all alost generation.” Miss Stein was referring to the many restless young Americanwriters who gathered in Paris after World War I Hemingway wrote about the lostgeneration in his first novel The Sun Also Rises The rootless Americans in thestory roam France and Spain in a desperate search for fun, and for a faith tobelieve in This novel established Hemingway as one of the most influentialwriters of the 1900’s Many young authors modeled their writing on his simple,blunt style Hemingway won new admirers with such later works as For Whomthe Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea

One of the most important members of the “lost generation” was F ScottFitzgerald (1896-1940) He won fame with his novel This Side of Paradise Thisstory deals with the wild, rebellious young men and women of the “jazz age” afterWorld War I Most critics regard The Great Gatsby as Fitzgerald’s finest work Ittells of an idealist who is gradually destroyed by the influence of wealthy,pleasure-seeking people around him

Regionalists, like the local colorists, wrote about particular geographicareas Many regionalists used realism and naturalism to create true-to-lifepictures.

Some of the finest regional writing has come from the South WilliamFaulkner (1897-1962) is perhaps the greatest Southern novelist He set most ofhis stories in the make-believe Mississippi county of Yoknapatawpha In TheSound and the Fury and other novels, Faulkner used a “stream ofconsciousness” technique He showed in great detail how thoughts flowedthrough his characters’ minds Faulkner’s unusual stories and complicated styleseem to weave a magic spell that grips the reader’s attention

Outstanding Southern authors also include Ellen Glassgow (1874-1945),Maijorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953), Erskine Caldwell (1903-1987), andRobert Penn Warren (1905-1989) Miss Glasgow’s novel In This Our Life dealswith upper class life in Virginia The Yearling, by Mrs Rawlings, tells a sensitivestory of a boy’s love for pet fawn Like most of her novels, it takes place in theFlorida backwoods In Tobacco Road, Caldwell pictures the misery of a Georgiasharecropper’s family Warren’s novel All the King’s Men describes the career of

a powerful Southern politician

Other regionalists have written about city and country life in varioussections of the United States Willa Cather (1873-1947) and Ole Rolvaag (1876-1931) told of the hardships of Western pioneers during the 1880’s and 1890’s Inher novel My A’ntonia, Cather described pioneer life on die Nebraska frontier.Rolvaag’s Giants in the Earth concerns the Norwegian immigrants who settledSouth Dakota Edith Wharton (1862-1937) analyzed New York City’s society life

in The Age of Innocence Her Ethan Frome is set in a New England farmcommunity John p Marquand (1893-1960) told of Boston’s aristocracy in TheLate George Apley

Pearl S Buck (1892-1973) and William Saroyan (1908-1981) wrote about

a variety of subjects But they are often classified as regionalists because some

of their works have vivid regional details Buck became known for The GoodEarth and other moving novels about China Sarayan often wrote about theArmenian- American community in Fresno, California His works include MyName is Aram, a book of stories; The Time of Your Life, a play; and The HumanComedy, a novel

A popular form of fiction, the historical novel, is closely related to regionalwriting Authors of historical novels often emphasize geographic regions.Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) wrote one of the best-selling historical novels of alltime, Gone with the Wind It tells a dramatic story of the South during the CivilWar Edna Ferber (1885-1968) wrote many historical novels set in variousregions Her most famous works include So Big, Giant, and Show Boat

Poetry Reborn American poetry suffered a sharp decline for about 20

years after Walt Whitman died in 1892 In 1912, Harriet Monroe (1860-1936)paved the way for a vigorous revival when she founded Poetry: A Magazine ofVerse in Chicago This was one of the first magazines devoted exclusively topoetry It soon became the rallying point for some of the greatest poets of the1900’s

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) and Robert Frost (1874-1963) hadwritten important poetry long before 1912 But they first won public recognition as

a result of the new interest in poetry awakened by Poetry magazine Robinsonwrote several long narrative poems based on popular legends He also excelled

in character sketches, such as “Miniver Cheevy.” Frost became one of America’smost beloved poets His poems have a deceptively simple and readable style.But they delve deeply into human psychology Such poems as “Mending Wall”and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” are modem classics

Three major poets came from and wrote about the Middle West Edgar LeeMasters (1869-1950) established his reputation with Spoon River Anthology, aseries of small-town sketches Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931) produced brilliantpoems that have strong, chantlike rhythms He stirred readers with such poems

as “The Congo” and “General William Booth Enters into Heaven.” Carl Sandburg(1878-1967) aroused controversy with his blunt, realistic free verse Hiscollections of poetry, Chicago Poems and The People, Yes, show his sympathyand love for common people Sandburg also wrote a masterful biography,Abraham Lincoln

A long Civil War poem, John Brown’s Body, brought fame to StephenVincent Benet (1898-1943) Other poets who contributed to the rebirth ofAmerican poetry include Edna St Vincent Millay (1892-1950), William CarlosWilliam (1883-1963), and Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) Archibald MacLeish(1892-1982), a poet, dramatist, and statesman, became known during the 1930’sfor his powerful social protest verse

Experiments in Poetry A number of poets who contributed to Poetry

magazine experimented with form far more than did Frost or Robinson Thesepoets wanted to break with all tradition and to create a “new poetry” suited totheir own times

Among the most radical “new poets” were Amy Lowell (1874-1925) andEzra Pound (1885-1972) They became leaders of a group of poets calledImagists The

Imagists emphasized everyday speech, new rhythms, and the use of clear,sharp images Miss Lowell carried out the Imagist goals in such delicate,sensitive poems as “Lilacs” and “Patterns.” Pound’s early Imagist works had astrong influence on young American and British poets Many of the poems in hislater Cantos are vague and difficult to understand

Many other poets experimented with both form and content in their works.Probably the most influential was T.S Eliot (1888-1965) His poems, such as

“The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock” and The Waste Land, established amodern tradition of difficult, symbolic poetry Eliot also wrote important works ofliterary criticism His theories on analyzing poetry influenced a group of Americanwriters known as New Critics These critics concentrate on analyzing an author’sstyle, language, and writing techniques They pay less attention to the author’slife or the times in which he lived Eliot became a British citizen in 1927, andmany critics consider him an English, rather than an American, poet

American poets who showed the influence of Eliot’s style include HartCrance (1899-1932), Marianne Moore (1887-1972), Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), and Allen Tate (1899-1979) E.E Cummings (1894-1962) experimented insomewhat different way He used unusual punctuation and no capital letters

The Rise of American Drama Drama lagged far behind other literary

forms in the United States Most American plays of the 1700’s and 1800’s wereeither melodramatic tragedies or sentimental comedies Few had any literaryvalue The first truly creative period in American drama came in the early 1900’s

Eugene O’Neil (1888-1953) revolutionized the theater with his realisticthemes and daring stage techniques O’Neil won national and international fame

in 1920 with Beyond the Horizon, a brutally realistic play His later works includesymbolic tragedies, such as The Hairy Ape, and penetrating psychologicaldramas, such as Mourning Becomes Electra His tragic Long Day’s Journey intoNight was first produced after O’Neil's death It is based on his own family life

Led by O’Neil, American drama flourished during the 1920’s and 1930’s.Outstanding plays include The Adding Machine and Street Scene by Elmer Rice(1892-1967), and Winterset by Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959), Robert Sherwood(1896-1955) contributed Abe Lincoln in Illinois and other important historicaldramas George s Kaufman (1889-1961), Moss Hart (1904-1961), and Marc

Connelly (1890-1980) entertained audiences with witty, satiric comedies CliffordOdets (1906-1963) took a more serious view of social problems in Waiting forLefty and Awake and Sing! The realism of The Children’s Hour by Lillian Heilman(1905-1984) shocked the public in 1934 Miss Heilman won praise in 1941 forWatch on the Rhine Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) influenced later dramatists byomitting scenery and stage settings from his play Our Town.

The humorous Life with Father by Howard Lindsay (1889-1968) andRussel Crouse (1893-1966) set a record by playing on Broadway for almost eightyears from November, 1939, to June, 1947 This play was based on books ofshort stories by Clarence Day (1874-1935) Lindsay and Crouse also wrote State

of the Union, a political satire

Many playwrights got their start through the little theater movement thatgrew up during the early 1900’s Outstanding little theater groups included theProvincetown, Massachusetts; Players and the Washington Square Players ofNew York City They encouraged experiments in drama and acting

Short Story Writers and Humorists The short story grew in importance

during the 1900’s Many leading novelists, including Hemingway and Faulkner,also devoted their skills to short stories The author most closely associated withthe short story is o Henry (1862-1910) He used surprise endings so effectivelythat his technique became known as the “O Henry twist.” Millions of readershave enjoyed such favorites as “The Furnished Room” and “The Gift of Magi.”

Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980) and Eudora Welty (1909-2001) wrotesensitive, carefully organized short stories Many of Miss Porter’s stories dealwith adolescent girls and young women Her first novel, Ship of Fools, appeared

in 1962 Miss Welty set her stories in the Mississippi Delta region where shegrew up Miss Welty also wrote two important novels, Delta Wedding and ThePonder Heart